École Nationale des Chartes

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The École Nationale des Chartes is a grand établissement, a French university-level educational institution based in Paris. It provides education and training for archivists and forms part of the University of Paris

The school was founded by a royal ordinance of 22 February 1821, but closed in 1823, only to reopen following a new ordinance of 11 November 1829. The school was originally based at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, then called the Bibliothèque royale, on the rue Richelieu. In 1862 the school moved to a site close to the Archives nationales, and later still to the Sorbonne, to facilities intended for the suppressed theology department.

The school's mission is the training archivists and librarians in all fields. Its graduates have specialised as historians of art and architecture, palaeographers, curators, librarians, archaeologists, and some of the most renowned have specialised in the obvious fields of ancient and medieval history. As with all the grands établissements, many of its graduates have made a mark in other areas, in particular politics and administration.

Three programmes are offered, medieval history, to 1484, modern history, from 1483 to 1815, and contemporary history, from 1815 onwards. Various secondary schools provide specialist training for prospective students, and in theory entry into the three-year programme is open to holders of a bachelor's degree. In practice, the course of studies is at master's degree level, and places are limited to around 25 each year in total.

In addition to these programmes, the École des Chartes organises a number of courses and lectures with open access to the public, and also provides specialist study to students in other universities pursuing master's degree-level studies.